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tv   Newsline  PBS  December 17, 2012 5:00pm-5:30pm PST

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transition in works. the reidleader of a part gets r to launch a coalition government. he's getting ready to do he's quite familiar with. he's prepared to return to the prime minister's office. he's begun picng cabinets and party leaders. he plans to appoint a former prime minister as deputy prime minister. he hopes the veteran politician will help stabilize his government. he shares many of the
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conservative views. he'll skeep secretary general in his post. he managed the party election campaign. the new government is expected to take power next week. his first foreign visit would be to the u.s. he has made strengtheninghe japan u. relionsp a priority. abe criticized the party repeatedly for damaging this relationship. how do people in the obama administration look on it now. >> reporter: the revolving door to the japanese prime minister office has made it difficult for those to cooperate on an issue. they want a reliable partner.
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they'd like to see an end to the volatile issues. >> what do they want them to address? >> reporter: people in the obama administration face a high priority. they have been troubled by the increasing tension between japan and china over which country owns the senkaku islands. it could unsettle dynamic in a region. they want to see measure security policies and sophisticated diplomacy to calm the situation. >> our pleszage to the new japanese government will be the same to the former japanese government, which is we want to see both japan and china avoid provocative acts. we want to see them talk toach
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other and work this through by dialogue. >> reporter: now japan has a dispute with south korea. they would like to see the japanese put aside their differences. american diplomats rely on the partners of both countries to contain it. the north koreans may be well on their way to gaining technology to launching missiles. >> thank you very much. european leaders are hoping for more stability. what's the european take on the new government? >> as you know europeans have seen no shortage of instability these days. they are paying close attention to economic policies of the new government.
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they are expected to begin next spring. eu president said they hope ep negotiations with strengthen ties and lead to sustainable global economic growth. fra some eu nations also say japan's efforts to open its market have been insufficient. eu helps to plan negotiations if japan fails to improve within one year after they begin talks. as the clock ticks away on the scalliff, we're seeing some signs of concessions between republicans and democrats. president obama and john boehner met again the white house. they are aiming to reach an agreement on tax hikes for the wealthy. the meeting comes after the republicans propose a compromise over the weekend.
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they reportedly offer to agree to a higher tax rate for the rich but only for those with an annual income of a million dollars or more and that's in the democrats agree to reduce spending on health care and pension. men while democrats continue to demand aax rise for people making at least $250,000 a year. >> an important element of that on the revenue side is allowing current law when it comes to the top 2% to remain in place which see rates on those wealthy americans rise. >> jay carney also said they will continue to negotiate with boehner and other congress members in a search for compromise. let's get your check on stops. the nikkei is trading at 9,911.
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that's up 8% from monday's close. some stocks are falling on profit taking. the yen is trading in a narrow range. dollar is slightly lower as trader buy the yen against major currencies. it's now quoted at the kospis up half a percent.
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the google website allows anyone to search through books and review some of their contents. in japan members of the pen club have protested the google project after the firm digitized copyrighted material without permission. both sides eventually found a compromise. investors in trouble times often put their money into safe haven investments. some germans have done just that. now they are finding some unusual places to park their
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euros. >> reporter: in germany vehicles more than 30 years old and in pristine condition are certified as classics. an index measuring classic car prices show they have doubled over the past decade. behind this is a uniquely vigilant germany against inflati inflation. this made the currey plunge resulting in hyper inflation. the european central bank is now promoting a policy of buying government bonds to help countries in financial crisises. jgermans are worried this there flood the market. he's investing in classic cars.
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he bought this 25 years ago for $18,000. its value has tripled. he with drew money from his bank account to buy two more classic cars last year. one car is now worth one and a half times more than he paid. he is confident he made a good investment. the other car is a popular porshe model. it's likely to increase in value. >> translator: prices have risen many times in the last decade. cars are a promising asset. >> reporter: some commodities are attracting attention because they are part of people's daily lives like cattle.
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in just won month the bond sold out. the price of the bond is about $610. it mays an annual interest rate of 4%. the interest is paid in kind with vegetables. >> translator: i discovered that customers were waiting for this kind of bond. the public has a strong interest in food an farming. >> reporter: many buyers of the bond are regular customers at sheays it's safer to invest in a tangible business she is trust. she thinks it's better than keeping money in bank at low interest rates.
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>> translator: i often go to the farm to look at the cattle. this investment gives me a lot of fun. >> reporter: germans seem to prefer safety in their investment. as the credit crisis continues they are likely to sow the seeds for more investments likthese. >> that's it for me for now. i'll leave you with the market figures.
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authorities in china are clamping down on doomsday profits. more than 50 people have been detained for spreading the mayan prophecy that the world will end this friday. the state-run agency reported on monday that stories of armageddon were proliferating on the internet. 37 members of an outlawed religious group were supportedly picked up for publicizing the theory. five women were held. a man cited the doomsday scenario for his reason for attacking students in an elementary school. they say he wounded more than 20 children in a knife attack. the ancient civilization of the mayans predicted the world would end on december 21st this year. state-run and chinese media are
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callg for calm. two members of sou korea are battling to convce vers the nation's most populist region. they will be marking their ballots on wednesday to choose nar their leader. they delivered speeches in eight cities surrounding the capitol seoul. half the nation's voters live in the region. >> translator: i hope to be in a country where 75% of people will be able to identify themselves as middle class. i hereby make a commitment to bringing this about. >> reporter: the main opposition democratic united party stopped in several locations to broadcast his message. moon blamed outgoing president for worsening people's standard of living. >> translator: the ruling party has gathered its members from the privileged class. if par became president, the honor would be handed over.
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i would change this dynamic. >> reporter: it's giving park narrow lead but the race is counting down to election day. syria's vice president has suggested that bashir assad's forces will be unable to win the civil war in his country. he spoke to the newspaper in an interview published monday. the vice president said a military or political solution to the conflict becomes less likely day by day. twompblts. two explosions in afghanistan have unscored the security. a government spokesperson said the girls were gathering firewood near the village. one of them set off an old land
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mine with an ax. an attack on a military insulation killed one person and wounded 15 others. police believe a small truck exploded as they passed the fa sit's gate. people are are picking up after a devastating typhoon. some are pointing fingers at the government. they said their past reports from manila. >> reporter: there were many disasters last month, triggering floods. theypho lef more than 1,000 people dead. it is feared that figure will keep rising, with more than 800 people still unaccounted for. the government failed to distribute to some towns a
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hazard map it drew up six years ago. experts say this oversight contributed to the authorities' failure to evacuate residents to a safe location. harsh criticism has come from the senators to launch an investigation. it wants to swiftly distribute the hazard map to all municipalities. another typhoon hit the same island in december last year, killing 1,200 people. a second consecutive year of serious typhoon damage is fueling criticism of the government's disaster preparedness. as many as 6.2 million people are still in need of assistance. the united nations are calling for $65 million in aid from the internationacommunity.
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nhk world, manila. some homeowner may need to check the land beneath them. nearly 6,000 kilometers sank by two centimeters after the earthquake in rch la ar. that's the highest since they started keeping records in 1968. they tested dozens of areas. they found the land on 30 of them is sinking. about half of those areas are dropping enough to compromise the stability of buildings. they point to one piece of ground in northeast japan as the worst example. it sank by more than 73 centimeters. residents have seen land drop by more than ten centimeters.
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rather than see their village become another ghost town, residents are putting new life into it. they are turning their community into an outdoor art display. >> reporter: it represents a villager. they civilize the strong ties that bind the residents together. these big masks are made from trees to only a few ridges including this one. visitors can relax and forget their cares. obara lies near the mountains of the archai prefecture.
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only about 4,000 people remain. every year at this time more than 150,000 people travel here to view cherry trees that bloom in november. the locals set up the art to show blossoms. residents donate. >> reporter: they look for assets that suit their scare
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scarecrows. >> translator: i want to help them because their project is putting a bit of life into our community. >> reporter: all together nine are in the area. they product the fills put together with bamboos and straw. despite what you might think these children are not misbe ha haifing. they are taking part in a tradition. it's believed it will cure ailing bodies. >> translator: the cherry blossoms and autumn colors used to be the villages one and only
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attraction but now we have this. >> translator: i want everyone to look at this place and its surroundings. i cannot feel but it helps encourage to do this. >> reporter: they give energy and purpose to a declining community. emerging economic powers still struggling with democracy. the threat of violence, the push for peace, the shadow of conflict. get news and insight on southeast asia every weekday live from bangkok only on "newsline" . people in northern japan are dealing with more snow. this is after they got recd week.ing aunts of it last we g the latest in the world weather forecast. >> a winter storm is sweeping
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across northern japan producing snow showers and strong winds. we have reports of 100 kilometers gusts. strong northern winds will be flowing. that's going to produce heavy snow showers. for northern japan as well as the north coast of western japan. behind it a large high pressure system is keeping things dry. all along the rim of this high pressure area, very strong winds are blowing. that's resulting in highways and strong northern winds are quiting with warmer air light showers for southern showers as the high pressure system descends down rain should be tapering off here. here are your temperatures. very frigid up toward the beiji.
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tokyo is a different story. your high in seoul is expected to be only minus 4 on wednesday. tokyo should be cooling down to 8 degrees tomorrow. on the western size of asia stronger cold air from central russia is producing lots of he have snow and also lower than average temperatures. this is the footage coming out of ukraine. ef snow has caused numerous car accident and people are busy shoveling snow off roads. conditions are improving in eastern europe. lower than average temperatures will remain throughout the day. out toward the west turning quite wet and windy across the british isles as well as the western continent and severe weather is happening across the
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eastern half of the mediterranean countries. this is due to frigid air colliding with warmer air from the south. minus 14 in moscow. that's about ten degrees cooler than seasonal. minus 11 in kiev. further down toward the south pacific ocean we've been tracking severe cyclone evan. this system has produced 200 millimeters of rain. the good news is that it should weaken and go down towards the south. conditions will gradually improve as we head intoheext seral days. here is your extended forecast around the globe.
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one more story before we go. this year's early sightings of santa claus have him not on a sleigh but a bicycle peddling
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his way across town. hundreds of father christmass got on their bikes this weekend and took to the streets of rome. more than 300 cyclists toured the city's most celebrating location. they spread festive cheer around the italian capital. >> translator: it's a great way to enjoy ourselves with our friends and to celebrate christmas. >> there's a serious side of the event too. organizers say they want to raise funds for children with cancer and spread the work that cycling can help tackle rome's traffic congestion and air pollution. looks like a very merry time there. that wraps up this edition of "newsline." thanks for joining us.
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